The Diamond Dog's Guide to Equestria

by Fragezeichen

Entry 3

The group known as the Equestrian Wild Life Rangers is a collection of ponies hoof-picked by Princess Celestia to deal with all things nature. They ensure that animal habitats are undisturbed, poachers are stopped, and of course that animals are happy. It is an enjoyable job but it also requires a lot of patience and kindness.

The mare who currently heads the group, one Fluttershy, is the epitome of this idea. She bears the patience of water as it slowly cuts it's way through rock. She's kind enough that she'd clip her own wings to help a bird who lost one or two. Some might say this is over dedication but Celestia believes this is the kind of fanatical love for animals that a Wild Life Ranger needs. The original leader of the group, one Greenie Pastures, was quite crazy over the protection of animals as well, having found one nuclear device left over by the forerunners and threatened to set it off if nopony followed her rules of dealing with animals, which was basically let them rule over us. After Celestia destroyed her, Greenie was given the Medal of Dedication as well as the Patch of Insanity.

The Rangers are quite good at their jobs, they often work in teams of two or three and have the ability to communicate with animals to a certain degree, Fluttershy on the other hand can talk to them as if they were speaking plain ponese to her. Greenie reportedly heard the voices of animals in her head, this has been rumored to actually be schizophrenia and not a telepathic link. [i/]
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"You poor things, you must have had an awful time getting here from your mine." The Pegasus inferred, placing a bowl of freshly cut meat in front of each of them. Rover looked toward his brothers with a confused look.

"Erm, yes, it has been a hard walk..." The elder dog stated, lifting up the slab of meat with a paw and examining it closely. Fluttershy smiled as they finally started eating, finding the most pleasure when the animals in her sector were happy, comfortable and well fed. The Diamond Dog brothers fed ravenously on the meat provided for them, consuming bowl after bowl before falling on their backs, their bellies quite round.

"Ah, good boys, are you all full?" Fluttershy asked as she tossed the remaining bowls into her sink to wash. The brothers nodded and sat up again looking around at the house then at each other. "Is something wrong guys?"

"We've been looking for a new home since we were...uh...ban-wished from our old home." Spot attempted, scratching his head. Fluttershy blinked and stood before them with a concerned look.

"That's awful! Well don't worry you three, you can stay here with me for as long as you need!"
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"You did what?" The purple unicorn asked flatly.

"I let them stay at my cottage for as long as they needed, I couldn't let the poor things wander around aimlessly across Equestria, they might...die!" Fluttershy squeaked the last word for she was quite nervous about saying it.

"So what? Everpony dies, or...dog...well you know what I mean." The blue Pegasus commented, flipping her rainbow-colored hair out of her right eye.

"But they were so pathetic when Rarity cornered them, I'm the leader of the Equestrian Wild Life Rangers, I have to protect the animals, no matter what their species is."

"Fluttershy, did you forget that they kidnapped her and basically used her for slavery?" Twilight reminded her friend who shook her head in disbelief.

"As I remember it, Rarity declared that she had them wrapped around her hoof the whole time. They weren't very good at holding her against her will....Also the fact that Rarity could have killed them with her whin-er, 'complaining' means that we really can't hold much against them." Fluttershy replied. Rainbow Dash stared in disbelief.

"C'mon Fluttershy, you can't seriously think they'll behave or something! I'll be they're destroying your house and eating your other pets right now!"

Fluttershy frowned and looked at her two friends before her eyes descended upon Applejack. "Applejack, you're a Ranger too, can't you tell them I NEED to help the dogs...?"

The orange, blonde-maned cowpony moved her eyes between the three mares she called her friends and blushed. "Well...uh...*cough* I uh..."

"Well AJ? What do you think?" Asked Twilight.

"Well you see, it's all...um...in that there Ranger handbook that uh...we gotta..." The other ponies stared at Applejack impatiently before she finally sighed and nodded. "Yes ya'll, accordin' to the handbook, we gotta help all the animals, regardless of anythin' they've done."

"Well that's a dumb rule!" Rainbow shouted with a stomp of her front left hoof.

"But it's still a rule, I guess it can't be helped." Twilight shrugged. "Are you at least sure they're behaving Fluttershy?"

"Oh yes, they're just so pleasant. They're really not that bad when they warm up to you." The yellow Pegasus responded with a smile.

"Yeah well still, I wanna make sure, can't be too careful with those dogs." Rainbow declared, lifting off the ground. "C'mon Fluttershy." Fluttershy sighed and nodded, following Rainbow Dash into the air, waving goodbye to both Applejack and Twilight before flying off after the rainbow Pegasus, toward her cottage.
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"I don't think I like it here Rover." Spot admitted as he waddled over to his elder brother who was lounging on a couch. "I think we should leave....find a new pack and a new mine like we were gonna do before."

"This place is perfect for us Spot! No one to tell us what to do, no more digging, yeah, I think it's pretty good here." Rover chuckled as he pulled another slab of meat towards him, biting it.

"Errgh, but still, what about gems?"

"We'll dig around here, the pony won't mind."

"And If she does?"

"Well, we'll just keep digging. Simple really." Spot sighed and walked toward Fido who was laying outside, basking in the sunlight and occasionally eyeing a squirrel and deciding whether or not to chase it.

"Fido, you think we ought to find a different place right?" The smaller dog asked his younger but much larger brother. Fido sat up and tilted his head with a shrug.

"I follow you guys, but I do kind of miss our mine. All the gems and rocks..." Fido smiled as his small tail wagged. Spot nodded and sat beside him.

"I wish we could get Rover to leave with us but he's too lazy now...." The smaller dog groaned as he lightly dug at the ground. Fido look at him then back at the cottage.

"Rover likes gems more than either of us, maybe he will want to dig again if we tell him."

"I already tried that. It's no use." Spot sighed.

"Well, let me try big brother." Fido said with smile, his large hulking body slowly standing up and trudging into the cottage.
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"Booooys! Here boys!" Fluttershy called and whistled as she and Rainbow landed in front of her cottage. "Huh...they usually come running when I call..."

"Maybe they're too busy breaking things! C'mon, let's go check!" The rambunctious mare cried as she quickly opened the door. "Alright you dogs! Stop breaking that-er...wait...there's no pony here..." Fluttershy blinked and stepped inside, looking around quickly, almost in a panic.

"Oh no! Ohno ohno ohno ohnoohnoohno!" She said repeatedly, dashing this way and that trying to find paw or tail of the diamond dogs. "They're gone!"
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It's funny to think that Diamond Dogs are some of Equestria's oldest creatures and are yet still so young. They came into sentience around the same time the ponies did about one hundred thousand years ago, after evolving from their feral ancestors. Despite this fact, they still seem to be new to everything around, unable to understand laws, unable to function properly in society. Odd really.

But the Dogs DO have one thing over the ponies. Simplicity. Diamond Dogs are easy to please, they do not rely on lavish homes and clothes, they don't need to go out to fancy balls or dances, they don't need money, they don't need the burdens that the ponies bear. All they need is a family, a simple mine, a few gems, food, and a place to sleep and they are happy. Many ponies who study the dogs find this simplicity to be quite refreshing, those who have lived among a pack of Dogs have stated that while the work is hard, it is rewarding to have the others in the pack congratulate you as you head off to sleep.

It takes a lot more to earn the same respect from ponies. To earn a typical pony's respect you must either be royalty, rich, famous, talented, and/or an element host. This may seem like a daunting task to complete, but that's only because it is! There is no pony harder to please than us ourselves, or Celestia.

Comments

[Kamineigh]

Whoa! Suddenly entire thing is in all italics.

[Fragezeichen]

31217 Thanks for the info, it's always best to be accurate and thanks to you, I'll be able to fix that in the future!

[ARBPW]

I honestly want more of this, there are never enough fics about the Diamond Dogs.

[Pills Here!]

I really liked the research notes part, and it easily blends in with the current storyline. I also find it quite great that you pull off the D. Dogs' personalities so well. Great job!